Machine for contour grinding outside peripheral surfaces of workpieces

Abstract

A machine for contour grinding outside peripheral surfaces of workpieces comprises a grinding wheel, a guard hood covering said grinding wheel, and a nozzle for supplying a cooling and lubricating fluid to the peripheral surface of said grinding wheel. The nozzle flares toward the peripheral surface of the grinding wheel and is open toward said peripheral surface and on that side which faces opposite to the direction of rotation of the grinding wheel is provided with a lip, which is adjustable toward and away from said peripheral surface. To ensure an effective supply of said cooling and lubricating fluid to said grinding wheel even when it is rotating at a high surface speed, said nozzle is pivoted on an axis which is parallel to the axis of rotation of the grinding wheel and said nozzle is provided on that side which faces in the direction of rotation of the grinding wheel with a motor-adjustable valve member for controlling the volume flow rate at which the cooling and lubricating fluid is discharged from said nozzle.

We claim: 
     
       1. In a machine for contour grinding the peripheral surface of workpieces, comprising a grinding wheel having a wheel axis and operable to rotate in a predetermined sense about said wheel axis and having a peripheral surface including a grinding surface portion engageable by a workpiece to be ground,   a guard hood covering said peripheral surface and leaving said grinding surface portion exposed, and   a nozzle, which is disposed radially outwardly of said peripheral surface and defines an internal cavity, which flares toward said peripheral surface and adjacent to said peripheral surface has an opening which extends throughout the width of said peripheral surface, which nozzle is operable to discharge a cooling and lubricating fluid from said internal cavity through said opening onto said peripheral surface has first and second sides respectively facing opposite to and in the direction of movement of said peripheral surface adjacent to said nozzle when said grinding wheel is rotating in said predetermined sense,   said nozzle being provided on said first side with a lip, which protrudes beyond said opening toward said peripheral surface and is adjustable toward and away from said peripheral surface,   the improvement residing in that   said nozzle is pivoted on an axis that is parallel to said wheel axis,   said nozzle is provided on said second side with a slidable mounted valve member, which protrudes beyond said opening toward said peripheral surface and is adjustable toward and away from said peripheral surface, and   said nozzle is provided with actuating means for adjusting said valve member toward and away from said peripheral surface to control the volume flow rate of said cooling and lubricating fluid on said peripheral surface past said valve member.   
     
     
       2. The improvement set forth in claim 1, wherein said actuating means are power-operable. 
     
     
       3. The improvement set forth in claim 2, wherein a feedback loop for controlling said actuating means to maintain a predetermined volume flow rate of said cooling and lubricating fluid past said valve member comprises means for sensing said volume flow rate. 
     
     
       4. The improvement set forth in claim 1, wherein said nozzle is accommodated by said guard hood. 
     
     
       5. The improvement set forth in claim 4, wherein said grinding surface portion is engageable by said workpiece when a center line of said workpiece lies on a predetermined radius of said grinding wheel,   said nozzle has a center line which is inclined at an angle of about 45° to said predetermined radius opposite to said direction of movement, and   said guard hood is provided with a drain passage which is open to said peripheral surface and has a center line which is substantially a mirror image of said center line of said nozzle with respect to said predetermined radius.   
     
     
       6. The improvement set forth in claim 1, wherein a line connected to said nozzle and communicating with said cavity to supply said cooling and lubricating fluid to said cavity has a center line which coincides with said pivotal axis.